Friday, December 28, 2012

After last winter's "winter that mostly wasn't," and the latest first 1" snowfall in history around here this year, we were thinking a white Christmas was out of the question for 2012. But the weather finally shifted, the cold air and moisture and wind aligned, and we got a nice bit of snow a few days before Christmas. It was so lovely! Then the weather decided once wasn't enough, and we got a good-sized storm a couple days ago. (Winter Storm "Euclid." Really, weather guys? "Euclid"? Why not Elvis? Then you could at least have made bad jokes about it as it rampaged through the eastern U.S.) All told, we've got about 18" on the ground right now, and the winter wonderland is sticking around due to the low temps. It's even hanging on the branches of the evergreens, so the landscape looks like something out of a Hallmark Christmas special.

The snow on our back porch is level with the seat of the picnic table, and piled magnificently on top. We didn't get as much wind as they had anticipated from the storm, which was a good thing - that much snow drifting in 25-30 mph winds would have been a real mess. But the snow was very welcome to all of the avid winter sports-folks around here, since last winter was such a dud for them. My snowboarding and skiing nephews are rejoicing over the white bonanza, and even the Princess was happy to get outside and play in the whiteness yesterday.

The Princess making a snow angel.

After this she blazed a path to the side stairs

and literally dove into the snow drifts.

I'm glad to have the snow too, although not for play or sport. I'm glad to have the snow cover for my garden. We had very little snow cover last year, but we did have some very wide temperature fluctuations. I lost some plants to the exposure, including many of my irises, which really made me sad. I planted a handful of new iris varieties this fall, and I have high hopes for the garden in 2013. But, really, every year I have high hopes for the garden - it's just a matter of wondering what good stuff will happen. I'm ready to start winter sowing in a few weeks, and the garden catalogs are arriving by the handful. I'll enjoy having the garden under a white blanket for a while, and plan for warmer weather beauties to grow soon enough.

Just as I am. . . .

I am a Christian mother, teacher, gardener and artist, living in Central New York. I have two kids (both teens, son and daughter - amazing people!).
Gardening is my passion, and influences my art, as well as bringing peace to my life. I used to tell people that gardening was cheaper than therapy. Hah. But it's a lot more fun.